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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29424762">In A Nutshell</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceyLoner/pseuds/SpaceyLoner'>SpaceyLoner</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, F/M, M/M, Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:01:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,750</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29424762</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceyLoner/pseuds/SpaceyLoner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin Arlert the classic nerdy and history dork college student somehow runs into the jock and flirtboat Jean Kirstein. Not the exact meeting he wanted to have when it came to trying to make friends at college. Now he’s asking himself how to get rid of him and try again to find someone else that isn’t- Jean.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Armin Arlert/Jean Kirstein, Bertolt Hoover/Annie Leonhart, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Moblit Berner/Hange Zoë, maybe some more later</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Hot Chocolate and Cheescake</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>HEHEH I hope you enjoy this and I apologize for any mistakes I made/missed.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Winter was a time of the year that Armin didn’t like so much, it meant little time to spend by the ocean and more time to be spent indoors, unfortunately. Eugene usually got snow early in the winter, and it was a lot of it in fact. He ran his hand over the frosted wall of the cafe shop as he made his way inside, right there at the counter were two people that felt like a second family to Armin. Mikasa was setting cups of hot chocolate on a wooden tray and her mother was stocking up bags of coffee on the shelf on the wall. At first neither noticed him until he sat down on a stool at a table near the window, Mikasa’s mom turned to him and smiled big until, though her smile died down when she saw Armin’s pink cheeks and nose from the cold “Oh Armin sweetheart you must be freezing, Mikasa honey do you mind getting Armin his special?” she asked after walking over to Armin. “Hot chocolate with a hint of peanut butter syrup, exactly ten mini marshmallows and a white chocolate gingerbread man with red,blue,and pink frosted buttons? On it” Armin laughed nervously noticing how much he had been here for Mikasa to remember his order, every detail, even the smallest ones like the buttons “Honestly Armin you’re going to freeze to death, you have a car now! I don’t want you to catch a cold” “Mrs. Ackerman you know how i feel about driving around all the time, i like to-” “Armin likes to site see, mom, he doesn’t want to miss anything” “If he stays out in the cold too long he will die and not be able see anything again” Mikasa placed her hand on her mom’s head to make her to stop stressing, she placed her hand on Mikasa’s and let out a heavy sigh “reckless just like your dad was, runs in the Arlert family i suppose” Armin’s parents passed away a month after he graduated, Mrs. Ackerman was best friends with his dad so it hurt her a lot when she got the news, she was the one who called him and told him about it. Armin still remembers how she could barely get words out over the call and even to this day she is still hurting just like Armin was. She was friends with his mom as well so losing both of them just didn’t set right with her. The coffee shop shut down for a few weeks after that until Mikasa decided to run it on her own, another one of their friends, Eren came in occasionally to help out, so did Armin. They were like a second family to him, not to mention Eren’s family cared a lot about Armin too since Eren and Armin grew up together. Eren’s mom and dad knew his parents very well also, mostly his mom so it affected them a lot as well. Armin was going to start college before the incident but held back, it wasn’t until a year and a half later that he finally decided to go for it. He was going to be starting a new semester next week and he wasn’t even close to being ready, Mikasa was going to start with him so was Eren, they were really the only friends he had so he was glad to have familiar faces around him even though they would most likely have no classes together since they were taking different majors. “Armin here is your hot chocolate..i hope it warms you up” Mikasa said setting the tray in front of him, Armin was going to say something about the cheesecake Mikasa added on the tray. She was like a big sister to him, she knew his favorite things really. He took a little sip and let out a soft gasp. Mikasa stood next to him waiting for a reply worried it wasn’t what he liked “It is delicious Mikasa!” he smiled up at her. She smiled back and pushed her black hair behind her ear revealing the little scar she had under her eye. It made her look more intimidating to some people, but to Armin it was a symbol that the tough and fearless girl he knew wasn’t completely immortal and could get easily hurt. Eren was the reason she had it, it was the usual, her trying to save him from getting cut with a kitchen knife in cooking class back in high school, but Eren was in a rush to finish first, next thing he knew the knife went to Mikasa’s face and slashed her face. It wasn’t deep enough to get stitches but it was deep enough to scar apparently. Mikasa was really a beautiful girl, and mysterious, it was the two favorite things the boys in high school liked about her but all the time she was with Eren never leaving his side. Reckless? Armin was? Apparently Mrs.Ackerman hadn’t seen the true side of Eren if she thinks Armin is the reckless one. He laughed about his thoughts as he continued to sip his hot chocolate “What are you laughing about, Soupy?” Mrs.Ackerman asked. Even though he was going into college soon she still treated him like a four year old “Just some memories from high school that’s all” he laughed out rubbing the back of his neck. “God I swear everyday you three came home and had some story about a hall fight” she sighed again. Their parents were always shaking their heads when they came home covered in cuts and bruises, well Armin and Eren at least “Do you think any of your high school friends will be going to the same college as you three?” Armin and Mikasa looked at each other then at Mikasa’s mom with blank faces “W-We didn’t really have any other friends other than each other” Armin told her looking down into the half empty mug of hot chocolate “Of course, right, but please promise me something you three” “What is it, mom?” “Keep each other safe like always but try to make some new friends, okay?” she set putting her hand on both of their heads, she smiled at them waiting for a reply so she could do her usual thing, give them a kiss on their foreheads “Yes, ma’am” they both replied in unison and after that came the forehead kiss “That’s my babies” she ruffled their hair and went back behind the counter to finish filling shelves with things. Armin drank the rest of his hot chocolate and ate his cheesecake as the two girls did their thing. His eyes glancing outside of the frosted window, it was early in the morning, 7:23am in the morning to be exact. During this time no one really came into the shop, it would be another thirty or so minutes till the first- well the second customer to come in. Armin was always first which made him giggle and feel accomplished about it. He would start college soon, that thought rang in his head, over and over after he took his last bite of cheesecake. Mikasa came over rather quickly and grabbed the tray like she had been watching him “Have a good day, Armin and don’t slip on ice” Mikasa told him. He smiled and gave her a hug like every morning “Alright, i will see you later” he smiled in the hug then let go to wave at her mom behind the counter “Bye Mrs.Ackerman! Have a good day you two! Oh, please tell Mr.Ackerman i said hi” They both nodded and after a mini lecture from Mikasa’s mom about getting better clothes to stay warm he made his way outside letting the bells on the door ring in the cold air. He let out a sigh letting hot air into the air. His smile reached ear to ear when he looked at the cloudy sky and then looked down walking away to go back home and sleep for another hour till Eren called him about not being able to find his shoes. They were always in the same spot.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Humanity is questionable</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Eren makes a messy decision, Armin meets a few new...strange people, Ackerman family sweet as ever</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Like always I apologize for my errors of spelling</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Green?! Eren i don’t think that is a good idea” Armin tried to take the bottle away from Eren’s hand but Eren just fought Armin back and of course between the two of them he lost. </p><p>Eren had come over to look over some papers of available jobs in the area their college was since they would both be staying in the dorms. They were doing just that till Eren started laughing weirdly and reached into his bag pulling out a black bottle that looked like it was hair gel at first until Armin got a closer look. Eren had bought hair dye, and not just normal hair dye, green. Out of all the colors Eren could choose it was this, a bright green, it wouldn’t even match the color to his eyes, he would look weird and embarrass himself. Eren wasn’t even sure if it was permanent dye, and Armin didn’t get a close enough look to tell if it was or not. Mrs. Ackerman’s voice rang in his head about her calling him reckless if she saw this she would freak. Armin stepped back and wearing off his panic he watched as Eren squeezed the bottle of hair dye and it landing right in his beautiful brown hair<br/>
“I am so sorry Carla...Grisha...Mikasa...Lord and savior”<br/>
Eren looked exactly like his mom well minus his biggest feature, his big green eyes, anyone could tell they were related immediately, but now at this moment as Eren rubbed the green into his hair, he looked nothing like her.<br/>
“Armin look! Don’t i look powerful?!”</p><p>“Are you wanting me to be honest to you?”</p><p>“Of course”</p><p>“You look terrible and it still isn't even washed out to reveal the finished product which i am scared of because you left...many pieces without color”</p><p>“Armin! You didn’t have to be a jerk about it” he angrily yelled at him as he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror trying to cover those so called pieces of brown hair that weren’t colored yet.</p><p>“Honesty hurts, Eren, honesty hurts” he reached to the sink counter and grabbed the bottle, when he read over it he sighed with relief, it was temporary.</p><p>“Thank Maria” he said, setting it back down and exited the bathroom to get away from whatever the heck Eren was doing to himself, definitely not something thrilling. </p><p>________________________</p><p>Armin sat down on the couch to be welcomed by Eren’s little puppy that he brought over with him. He was still young and tiny but every feature of him matched Eren, he was basically him as a dog, well minus the green hair at the moment. The puppy had brown smooth and messy fur, green small eyes and of course the attitude of Eren, angry and always aggressive with the people he didn’t like. Armin was with Eren when they got him at the pound, though when it was coming to name the puppy Eren didn’t even think twice, immediately he was named. The name was interesting but it made eren happy, Titan, that is what he named his puppy.</p><p>“Oh hey there Titan, your papa is being dumb again, green hair- don’t attack him when you see him, it is still Eren” he ran his hand against his bad stroking his tiny locks of fur.</p><p>“Armin! It is all done!” Eren came running in the room wearing a giant smile and had a whole shirt soaked with water, he had washed the dye out his hair after he let it sit. Of course, small pieces of brown hair stuck out from the green,all over his head. Armin laughed about how much he looked like some type of rotten green apple. What followed after Armin’s laughter was of course the yips and growls from Titan.</p><p>“Titan don’t do that, you will scare Eren”</p><p>“I don’t get scared by some tiny dog!”</p><p>Armin and Eren laughed and Eren sat down on the couch when Titan calmed down and sat in Armin’s lap </p><p>“You should do something to your look for college” Eren said putting his arms on the back of the couch and leaning his head back</p><p>“I think I look perfectly fine” he ran his fingers in his blonde hair, it did bother him a lot because it always got in his face when he was trying to take tests or read but it kept his face warm during the cold weather. Eren was the reason Mikasa cut her hair back in high school, her beautiful black hair that made her look like a goddess </p><p> </p><p>“You don’t look as good as me” he winked at Armin with a smirk, he was very confident in his look. Armin feared how badly his friend would be stared at when going into the college. </p><p>“Oh! How is Carla doing?” he asked Eren, he looked over at him and chuckled “you still calling her by her first name huh?”</p><p>“You complained when i called her Candy!”</p><p>“It was...weird!” Eren grumbled pulling his phone out of his jean pocket</p><p>“She is sweet like candy though” Armin whispered looking down at Titan<br/>
“Ugh...speaking of my mom, she wants me to go home and pack my stuff for the dorms” he bit his lip and his eyebrows pushed down together making wrinkles on his forehead and on his nose. Eren and his mom always argued when Armin was around, it wasn’t too serious, it was just about him always being so careless and getting hurt, even so he knew they loved each other. Armin wasn’t sure about Grisha though, he always sat quietly away from the conversation and was reading the newspaper </p><p>“You know it is unfortunate that you won’t be moving into the dorms, what made you change your mind, anyway?”</p><p>Armin gestured his arm out to the living room of his apartment</p><p> </p><p>“I live here, remember? I thought being in a dorm would be a lot easier but living here isn’t too bad” he was lying, Armin would be alone everyday and never get to have that college dorm experience </p><p> </p><p>“Come on don’t be silly! You know it isn’t too late to change your mind” Eren was trying his hardest to convince Armin to stay with him but all Armin did was frown and look down.</p><p>“But what would i do with this place? I can’t just sell it…” this apartment was bought for him by his aunt, he remembered working his butt off to return the favor and return the money spent, she was begging him not to but Armin always has been the stubborn one.</p><p>“Hm that is a good question, tell your aunt to look after it while you are away and you can come here anytime, like during weekends or holidays” Eren placed his hand on his chin to think, his eyes glanced over the apartment </p><p>“It would feel like a waste of her money…”</p><p>“Armin your aunt has always been the sweetest i doubt she would get pissed about something like this, you know? I think she wants you to have that college experience, plus you can always move out or if you decide not to move in now you can do it later” </p><p>Sometimes Eren actually had plans for things, well plans for things that benifeted him, he was most likely going to ask Armin for help or use him to cheat on tests.</p><p>“I will think about, now get out of here before you get an even bigger earhole from your mom, tell her i said hi and watch out for ice on the road when running”</p><p>“Yeah yeah, sounding just like a mom” Eren rolled his eyes going to the door to put his shoes on</p><p> </p><p>“The benefits of hanging out with Mikasa every morning, you should see her more often Eren, well now that you got fired from your job you can!” Armin laughed, teasing Eren.</p><p>“Shut the hell up!” Eren scowled his friend and walked outside slamming the door behind him, forgetting one thing: Titan.</p><p>Titan looked at Armin and titled his head, Armin laughed awkwardly at him and smiled “Eren sure is something, am i right?”</p><p>They waited a few minutes, relaxing and Armin humming to himself. It was warm, it was peaceful, they wanted this moment to last forever but of course Eren finally came back and stole Titan away from his friend and left again.</p><p>“Honestly one of these days Titan will walk out the front door and Eren won’t even notice that he is missing for another year or even more” Armin giggled at how those words kind of rhymed and sat up rubbing his head. Eren was gone and his apartment just sounded so much more lonely than he liked</p><p> </p><p>“I really need to make friends who aren’t always busy” Armin sighed and got off the couch to do something productive.  college dorm experience.</p><p> </p><p>_______________________________________________</p><p>    Armin knew it would open a little later in the morning but it was now 10 am. He felt his stomach growl from hunger as he read over the sign of Mcdonalds </p><p>“God maybe i should have just made my own breakfast” he whined rubbing his hand over his stomach</p><p>It was unfortunate that this was how his morning was starting out, and by the looks of the<br/>
sky it might snow today or in the next few days, Armin and his friends started college tomorrow though which wasn’t going to be fun if it snowed. </p><p>“Hello there! how are you today? This wait isn’t fun at all right?” </p><p>Armin turned his head to be welcomed by the face of someone  that wore fogged up glasses like himself, their hair was tied into a very messy ponytail and they were a bit taller than Armin<br/>
“Oh, uh- yeah it is..” he replied, not looking at the person. </p><p>“I have work to get to and this happens! Never get a good bite around here, can you?” they shook their head throwing off some snow from their hair </p><p>“Hange! Where the hell are you?!”</p><p>Armin looked at where the sound came from and a person came running around one of the corners of the Mcdonalds. They looked out of breath and completely worried </p><p> </p><p>“Ah! Moblit, about time you got here!” The person next to Armin waved their hand in the air and smiled big and bright at the recently arrived person.</p><p>Hange and Moblit? Interesting names, Armin thought to himself not paying attention to the two people here now. When he got himself back to earth the two people were talking, Hange appeared laughing and smiling while Moblit had a serious and worried expression.</p><p>“Hey um- It looks like this place isn’t going to open anytime soon i know a place that has the best cakes and breakfasts, not to mention the coffee and hot chocolate is amazing, honestly very g-” before Armin could finish his invitation, Hange grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him. Moblit pulled them away immediately though and gave them a tiny lecture about not touching strangers out of the middle of nowhere</p><p>“It sounds wonderful, we would love to go, as you can clearly see” Moblit said gripping onto the overly excited Hange</p><p>“A-Alright...um the place is called Hunny...it isn’t far from here” Armin was just trying to get business into the breakfast place, he knew that Mikasa and her family would be very happy about it and he loved to see all of their smiles when they got new customers that weren’t himself. </p><p>“We really appreciate it, are you heading there now?” Moblit asked, looking at Armin.</p><p>“Oh um- Yeah i am” Armin didn’t know if Moblit was trying to give him a ride but just responded with yes and tried to turn to walk away, maybe it was good to start taking his car again.<br/>
“Here, take this- Guess we will be seeing you there then, much appreciated again, be safe and have a good day now” Moblit dragged Hange back to their car and with that they drove off. Armin was confused and lost why a stranger was so nice to give him bus money and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it.</p><p>________________</p><p>   Armin entered into the place to be hit with warm air and laughter. Hange and Moblit were sitting at a table in the middle chowing down on plates of food, mostly Hange. Moblit was focused on apologizing to Mikasa and her dad about the mess being caused and watching Hange making sure they didn’t choke and trying to keep them calm.</p><p>“Armin Arlert! You didn’t take your car today did you?” Mikasa’s mom was behind the counter crossing her arms. During the winter this was his welcome.</p><p>“Oh hello there! Nice to see you again!” Hange waved at Armin after swallowing some food </p><p>“I hear you invited them here, they seem to be enjoying the food” Mr. Ackerman laughed nervously.</p><p>“You have very good taste, kid!” Hange had their hands on a mug chugging the liquid inside down. It looked like coffee of course, Hange did come off as that person to Armin.</p><p>“I am very glad you like it...i come here very often..”</p><p>“Well Mikasa has been coming in and out lately due to her moving into the dorms” Mikasa’s dad said and squeezed his daughter’s cheeks.</p><p>“Ah dorms, i remember when i needed to do that” Hange let out a sigh of nostalgia as they leaned on their hand </p><p>“You fell down 3 flights of stairs with a box of glass dishes...somehow the dishes made it but you broke your right leg, arm, and neck” Moblit reminded wiping food of their mouth.</p><p>“Oh yeah we didn’t clearly introduce ourselves! I am Hange Zoe, they/them” </p><p>“Oh uh...Armin, He/him” Armin introduced bowing his head a little.</p><p>“Moblit Berner, he/him” Moblit introduced to Armin</p><p>He was unsure why they needed introductions when this would probably be the only time they would see each other. </p><p>“Well Hange i think you got your fill, thank you for the wonderful food we will definitely come back” Moblit said helping Hange out of their chair after standing up off his own</p><p>“We can’t wait to have your company again..” Mikasa said bowing as a thank you and the two of them made their ways out.</p><p>“That was quite the customer experience wouldn’t you say you three?” Mrs.Ackerman said leaning over the counter exhausted </p><p>“You said it yourself, honey” Mr.Ackerman leaned down and kissed her head and did the same to Mikasa and Armin</p><p>“Not to mention tomorrow is a big day for the two youngins in the room..” mrs. Ackerman smiled standing back up “god you two grow up so fast…it feels like yesterday you used two fell off that roof”</p><p>“What a lovely memory that was” her husband joked and he looked at Armin and then his wife, Mikasa nodded and the two of them walked out the room</p><p>“Armin sweetie…” </p><p>Armin looked over at Mrs.Ackerman confused but sort of knew what she was going to ask and with this he fiddled with the sleeve of his jacket</p><p>“...Yeah, that would be great..”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This has become a slow burn- this is a jearmin fanfic but Jean is hiding currently</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Familiar and New</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Armin has a little chat That he held back on<br/>College starts but not in a good way<br/>Armin meets new faces, gets into awkward spots and a non wanted encounter</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for mistypes BABANABAJA but this chapter is mwah to me</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The cold air didn’t hit Armin’s face all that hard when he was mostly looking down letting his long hair stay on his face. Armin was starting college in two days and this was a much needed visit that he tried to hold back for as long as he could remember. </p>
<p>“Hey mom...dad...it got a bit colder today..okay make that a lot colder” he laughed and once again went to silence as he looked down at the stone gravestones. Mikasa’s mom was waiting by the graveyard gate waiting for Armin to finish and then have a moment to herself with them.</p>
<p>“Guess what Eren did...he dyed his hair green and not the pretty green he looks like someone who came back from a glow stick party, he thinks it makes him look cool, he is going to embarrass himself at college, god if only you could see how ridiculous he looks”</p>
<p>Armin read the names on the gravestones and opened his mouth like he was going to say something but shut it and sat on the ground and hugged his knees, burying his face on the top of them. </p>
<p>“I was going to stay in the apartment but Aunt Lillie really wants me to go to the dorms so i can stay there if anything goes wrong and mostly so i won’t have an excuse for not making my classes, you know how she is, she said i can use it for vacation and parties..not like i'm going to have many of those” Armin glanced behind him to Mrs.Ackerman who gave him a thumbs up and a smile</p>
<p>“I really miss you guys...it seems even colder without you..” he said turning back to the gravestones “Eren and Mikasa’s parents are taking care of me very well though...grandpa calls every week to check on me, of course he doesn’t visit this time of the year, you know how he is with the streets and the cold”</p>
<p>He looked behind him again and nodded to Mikasa’s mom to tell her she can come over now. She jogged over and sat next to Armin </p>
<p>“You can stay here with me.. Nothing big and personal i'm going to say” she told Armin and her eyes went to the gravestones, it was his father’s first since she had a bigger connection with him over his mom.</p>
<p>“Hey there you two beautiful people that made such a beautiful son! Yes, it is me, Armin is being reckless as ever, seriously Adam” she laughed, Armin looked at her face, she wore a smile because she and Armin both knew how much his dad loved seeing his best friend smiling, but it was clear she was sad about the deaths still. Armin took her hand and hugged it like his dad did to him and people close to him </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mrs.Ackerman is such a good person, I wonder how she was in high school. I bet she was always giving away treats to kids in the hallway!” Armin was trying to lighten the mood so it wouldn't be so gloomy and dark. After that, they sat there having a full conversation between all four of them.</p>
<p>_______________________________________________</p>
<p>Armin stood outside of his apartment staring at it and let out a big sigh about it. He wouldn’t be back for a while, well most likely till the weekend but still it felt long especially since every adult he knew said college felt like a long stretch of work. Many times he thought to himself things weren’t that at all because most college students partied. Armin didn’t mind work, it kept him busy, especially if it was history work.</p>
<p>“You ready Armin?”</p>
<p>He turned his head to his right to see Mikasa and Eren waiting for him, Eren still with his green hair but a wide smile ready to head off. Mikasa had a slight smile but Armin could tell she gave a lecture to Eren about his hair and asked why he did it. This was the start of a new beginning and he was ready to see where it would lead him. He nodded and locked his apartment door walking to his friends leaving behind his home for now. </p>
<p>“Time for college!” Eren shouted running down the stairs, of course falling straight down because of the ice that covered them “Eren you need to be more careful” Mikasa ran to his rescue which added to Eren arguing and acting tough that he didn’t need help.</p>
<p>__________________________________________________________</p>
<p>When Armin got there he immediately went to the office with his friends to get their dorm keys to unpack. It would be a few hours before the orientation for the new students, so he had plenty of time to settle into his dorm. Unfortunately he didn’t share a dorm with Eren by their separate dorm numbers. Armin wasn’t wanting to get close to someone right on the first day and once he brought his first box up to his room he didn’t need to, it was a dorm he had to himself, he let out a sigh of relief since it would be like back home in his apartment </p>
<p>“Thank Maria” </p>
<p>He placed the first box down and walked around the room, it was freezing because the heater wasn’t on. He didn’t find that unusual but he wasn’t going to keep it that way after he was done bringing in the boxes. The halfway was really quiet, surprisingly since this was a move in dorm day. He shook the unusual quietness and walked over to the already placed mini fridge, it was big enough to hold the little drinks and snacks his aunt, grandpa and Mrs.Ackerman gave him, he would have to go shopping on his own later.</p>
<p>Armin blew on his hands to warm up as he stopped at the window in his room. It was an amazing view of the campus and was right there where the sun rose, the beauty of it rising in his room to help him start a new day. He took his phone out of his jacket pocket and plugged in the earbuds wrapped around the phone. When he opened Spotify he clicked the playlist he currently made called “Moving” full of songs that helped him focus.</p>
<p>He went back and forth on the stairs bringing in boxes from his car, once they were all inside he shut the doors and parked his car in a spot he purchased beforehand. On his way back up from parking he wasn’t paying attention and ran straight into someone then felt something warm hit his head, to which once he had his eyes opened he noticed it was a hamburger that was now on the ground. He gasped, his head shooting up to see a very sad person. She had brown hair that was tied into a ponytail and looked rather warm in a pink winter coat, next to her who seemed just as shocked was a guy who had a buzzcut and was in a black winter coat </p>
<p>“Well shit, Sasha i told you to open your eyes” the buzzcut  sighed looking down at the hamburger.Sasha looked at him with a widened mouth, “I was enjoying it!” </p>
<p>“I am sorry for her, this isn’t your fault, okay man?” </p>
<p>Armin just stood in terror with a feeling he was going to be attacked “i am so sorry! Please let me buy you another one! Right now, i have money, tell me anything you want, i can get you two- no three- no five more! Just tell me what you need!”</p>
<p>The buzzcut guy turned his head at Sasha and just glared at her like it was telling her to not say anything and just move on</p>
<p>“Well i would really enjoy some Taco Bell” Sasha told him and licked her lips</p>
<p>“Of course! I'll go get it right now!” Armin said quickly, grabbing his keys from his pocket “anything particular?”</p>
<p>“Hey dude you don’t have to do t-”</p>
<p>“A hard taco, a soft taco and two bean burritos” Sasha interrupted. Armin nodded and ran back down the stairs to his car</p>
<p>“Seriously Sasha?” </p>
<p>“I am starving, Connie, let a girl eat won't you?”<br/>“I will throw your food out the window, don’t test me” Connie warned, punching Sasha’s arm</p>
<p>__________________________________</p>
<p>Armin stood in the line inside Taco Bell waiting for his turn, the driveway was full and personally he didn’t want to wait that long and have Sasha even more angry or sad. He covered his face thinking about how he already embarrassed himself on the moving day of college, not even a school day. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“God i feel stupid..” he repeated it to himself over and over not noticing the girl calling him into the next ordering line that was empty. </p>
<p>“Excuse me, are you ready to order..? Hello?” </p>
<p>Armin finally snapped out of it noticing he was being called and went over to her, feeling once again embarrassed about another incident “i apologize…” he said to the cashier and she just gave him a smile telling him not to worry about it. She asked for his order and he gave it, he watched as she took the amount from his card and handed it back. He didn’t budge from his spot when she gave him a waiting number and just went off in thought once again</p>
<p>“Hello there beautiful, what is a cutie little girl like you doing here alone?”</p>
<p>Armin jumped from the sudden voice and turned around to where the voice was coming from, the person who was behind him was tall and skinny but had a very fit looking body. He wore a smirk on his long face, his hair was a very noticing feature that Armin saw right away, it was two different tones of color, a ash brown hair color on the top that slipped into a much darker undercut on both the sides and back </p>
<p>“I’m a...guy...i am male..” Armin told him with a very confused face</p>
<p>The two of them stood in silence, awkward and loud silence. Armin wanted his order to come much faster but he had just ordered it so he would have to deal with this until it came. He did not want to be here, at all.</p>
<p>“Number 245!” Armin turned to the counter and quickly grabbed his bag of his order and turned back to the guy “well this is where we part...bye now, have a good day” Armin ended the awkward moment with that and left to his car, letting out a breath of relief and slamming his head on his steering wheel done with this day already “I hate….everything right now” he groaned and drove out of the parking lot to go back to the dorms where he completely embarrassed himself the first time of the day </p>
<p>________________________________</p>
<p>“Here...this is all of what you asked for...i am once again very sorry for what happened earlier, i promise i didn’t do it on purpose” Armin said, looking down at the ground and handing the bag to Sasha who had been sitting on the top of the staircase for him with Connie </p>
<p>“You sure are an apologetic type” Connie laughed as Sasha dug into the first burrito “Do you ever, you know...annoy yourself with it? I am not saying to never apologize but this much?”</p>
<p>Armin wasn’t sure how to respond, this was just an immediate instinct of his when he did something wrong like this. Maybe it wasn’t as bad to them as it was to himself, everyone did question his behavior around people when he made one small mistake.</p>
<p>“Here..” Armin looked down at the burrito that was being handed to him by Sasha. He wasn’t sure what was happening so he looked to Connie for help “looks like she likes you, Sasha here never gives food to anyone unless he has an interest in the person. Have a name?” he asked Armin who tried to push the burrito away but was just shoved back with it until he finally took it </p>
<p>“Me? Oh! My name is Armin...Armin Arlert..”</p>
<p>Armin smiled a little, was this what it felt like to meet new people? He enjoyed it, it was tingly but made him happy </p>
<p>“Aww he smiles, and it is adorable, like a little puppy” Sasha giggled and shoved the rest of her taco in her mouth.</p>
<p>He blushed from the statement and hid his face in his jacket looking away </p>
<p>“Such a softie too, now hurry up and eat you beast, we still have the orientation to go to, remember?” Connie reminded her and yawned before standing up. </p>
<p>“I forgot about that! So much has happened I just lost track of things..” Armin said to himself and opened the burrito splitting it in half handing the other piece to Connie, he took it and ate it quickly. <br/>“Well let’s get going before it completely slips our minds” Connie walked down the stairs and Sasha followed behind and Armin behind her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>   They made it into the theater where a giant stage stood and hundreds of seats stood in rows going up a slanted floor. Students were chattering and laughing waiting for the teachers to come in and do the usual things, introductions and what this college was about. The people in the room were all standing as a way to respect the adults that were about to come in. Armin split from Connie and Sasha when Mikasa called him over to Eren and herself. </p>
<p>“See you are already replacing us” Eren teased, Armin still cringing from the neon green hair still on Eren’s head. </p>
<p>“Didn’t miss anything right?” He asked, already knowing the answer but just wanting to make sure</p>
<p>“No you haven't, but you made it close to the beginning, usually you are early” Eren replied and raised an eyebrow at Armin.</p>
<p>“I’ll explain later when we have time” Armin said as he noticed a group of people walking on the stage and to the chairs for them, one went to the podium. </p>
<p>Armin noticed someone familiar on the stage right away after they went to a chair, it was Hange and coming next to them was Moblit. He was glad to know some familiar faces in faculty </p>
<p>“Hello students, i am so very glad to see a bunch of new faces that will be joining us at SC University, here on this stage is many of our faculty members who will deliver an introduction and their position here, as you may know i am Erwin Smith, the principal of this university and here next to me is Levi Ackerman, he is what you could call a vice principal, i will move away and let him speak” Erwin moved away from the microphone to a chair. He was definitely a fit man and had the look like he might have been in some sort of military unit.</p>
<p>“Hello there...children.. I am Levi Ackerman and i only have one request” there was a deep and long silence in the theater till he spoke up again “keep things here damn cleaned and don’t cause hell and you should stay on my good side..and out of detention, fair warning, i am in charge of that” the whole theater felt a shiver of cold as Levi finished and moved away. <br/>When Erwin stood up again there was a major difference in height between the two men </p>
<p>“Don’t feel too scared over him, you guys should be fine, don’t worry, well next is the physics/chemistry and anatomy teacher and their assistant, Hange Zoe and Moblit Berner”</p>
<p>Hange ran excitedly to the mic and stared off into the seats of students examining them “Oh how i can feel the strong youth in here, well hello there!! As you just heard i am the teacher of physics/chemistry and anatomy, i do hope you will let me experiment on how your bodies work, each body is different in its individual way”</p>
<p>Once again silence fell in the theater and Armin gulped, this was a bit of a different Hange from who he met at Mcdonalds</p>
<p>“I am kidding! Ahah! We are completely safe, nothing bad ever happens” Hange said with a big smile and Moblit pulled them away from the mic </p>
<p>“Hello there, so uh- they are lying, i can promise you i will make sure you guys stay alive...and come out as one of the fortunate ones with all limbs, and no extra ones too!” Moblit said and pulled Hange back to the seat.</p>
<p>Some more introductions went on and finally it came to an end. Eren asked to meet Armin’s new friends and he agreed, not sure if it was quite the time to call them his friends since they just barely met. As he spotted them from a distance he also saw the guy from Taco Bell with them and immediately regretted living.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>THIS WAS A LOT LONGER THAN I WANTED MY GOD- but finally we can welcome Jean to the story, Welcome Jean 😌 you are finally here, nameless at the moment to the others but you are here!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This may have been short and long because it is the introduction to this story and of Armin.</p><p>I am also new to posting on here so I’m figuring things out my bad if it looks wonky</p></blockquote></div></div>
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